The number of adolescents using e-cigarettes has dropped for the first time since the products were introduced to the market, a new survey indicated, suggesting that the recent dramatic rise in teen vaping may have peaked.
From 2015 to 2016, the percentage of teens who said they vaped in the last 30 days declined from 16% to 13% among high school seniors participating in the nationally-representative survey conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR).
Traditional cigarette smoking also continued to decline among teens, with the percentage of 12th-graders reporting current smoking dropping from 11.4% to 10.5% during the same period.
The ISR's annual survey tracks trends in substance use among teens, by surveying some 40,000 to 50,0000 8th, 10th, and 12th graders attending 400 public and private secondary schools throughout the U.S.
The percentage of high school sophomores who reported recent vaping declined from 14% to 11% in the 2015-2016 survey, and vaping fell from 8% to 6% among 10th graders. All the declines were statistically significant, an indicated.
An earlier CDC survey found that regular e-cigarette use among middle- and high-school students from 2013 to 2014, for the first time surpassing cigarette smoking rates among teens. Its methods differed from those used in the Monitoring the Future survey, however.
The survey also found:
- Cigarette smoking in all three grades reach the lowest levels recorded since the ISR survey began 42 years ago
- 4.9% of 10th graders reported smoking cigarettes during the past 30 days, compared to 6.3% in the previous year; 2.6% of 8th graders smoked, compared to 3.6% in the 2015 survey
- From its peak year in 1997, current smoking among teens has declined by more than 75%
The ISR's , told 51˶ that while the new survey findings are encouraging, it is not yet clear if the decline in teen vaping represents a peak in e-cigarette use, or just a pause in their rise in popularity.
"We have seen a slight increase in the percentage of kids who consider vaping dangerous. Around 20% of the 8th, 10th, and 12th graders we surveyed said they believed regular e-cigarette use poses a risk of harm," Miech said. "That could explain the decline, but my guess is that another part of this is that the novelty is wearing off."
Miech noted that just 5 years ago, almost no teens were using e-cigarettes. But rates have skyrocketed since then, according to numerous surveys summarized in a U.S. Surgeon General report issued last week.
He added that the decline in teen vaping may be especially significant given that studies by his research team and others suggest that vaping may lead to cigarette smoking. His own recent research found that, among surveyed 12th graders who had never smoked cigarettes, vaping was associated with a more than four-fold greater likelihood of beginning to smoke cigarettes during the next year.
"Vaping may lead to friendship networks that encourage vapers to smoke," he said. "Also, vapers may come to believe the dangers of smoking are exaggerated if they do not experience any immediate health consequences from vaping."